Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday Tehran would stick to its 2015 nuclear accord with world powers as long as the other signatories respected it, but would “shred” the deal if Washington pulled out, state TV reported.

Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Thursday its ballistic missile program would accelerate despite U.S. and European Union pressure to suspend it, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

But as President Trump prepares for a 12-day swing through five Asian nations next month to bolster international pressure on Pyongyang, the administration is divided over whether he should make the pilgrimage, an issue that remains unresolved. Some aides worry a visit could further inflame already heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, while others have expressed concern over Trump’s personal safety, according to people who have spoken to administration officials.

Former CIA chief John Brennan puts chance of North Korean conflict at 20 to 25 percent

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley urged the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to adopt the Trump administration’s comprehensive approach to Iran and address all aspects of its “destructive conduct” — not just the 2015 nuclear deal.

A former U.S. nuclear negotiator on Thursday urged the United States and North Korea to hold high-level talks „without preconditions.“ In an interview with Yonhap News Agency, Robert Gallucci also cautioned the U.S. not to respond to the North’s bellicose rhetoric with „more provocative words.“

It’s very unlikely that Trump could wake up angry, fire off tweets about an adversary, and then decide to end the argument once and for all. “The notion that a president could capriciously launch a nuclear first strike suggests that no one in the chain of command would raise a question or intervene. In practical terms I find that hard to believe,” says Rebecca Hersman.

We are a group of 25 former foreign ministers who have just met for consultations on transatlantic relations and other key international security issues. We have been closely following the debate in the United States over the Iran nuclear agreement and we understand that it is now up to Congress to maintain U.S. compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). We urge you to uphold the agreement, and not to take any unilateral action that seeks to expand, alter or renegotiate the terms of the JCPOA

Many experts believe it’s only a matter of time before truly devastating cyberattacks are mounted against critical civilian infrastructure—or even key military systems. Nuclear weapons and related systems, like all digital systems, are vulnerable to cyberattack. Though nations give the highest priority to the security of nuclear weapons systems, a successful cyberattack is possible and could be catastrophic

How good is America’s homeland ballistic-missile defense? If a war broke out tomorrow, could it stop an attack from North Korea? The short answer, despite many assurances from Defense Department officials, is that no one knows. Ballistic-missile defense, or BMD, is a stunningly ambitious and complex undertaking, unforgiving of the smallest problems.

There has been a flurry of articles speculating that it might be a good thing for regional security if Japan „went nuclear“. However, this would require much more than simply building nuclear weapons, in particular requiring the construction of a massive supporting infrastructure and overcoming domestic opposition.